Batman a world famous superhero synonymous with fear, power and rich people with too much time on their hands. The legendary vigilante isn’t a stereotypical hero and that’s probably why people love him so much. Bound by only one rule he watches over the troubled city of Gotham lurking in the shadows and protecting the citizens who are unable to fend for themselves.

Surprisingly enough however this is one DC legend who has had his reputation and image almost destroyed in past years. Due to poor game releases and even poorer attempts at movies, times have changed however. The past two movie releases became more than just box office hits they became movie legends with some even saying the dark knight helped save the movie industry.

The Batman game, soon to be released, ties in with the last movie following on straight from the jokers capture. The game has had more than enough effort put in to make it a success. It was written by Paul Dini, the Emmy award winning Batman writer, and voiced by Mark Hamill the voice of joker in the animated T.V series. Having the right team behind the game is often more than enough but Eidos and WB continued there strive for glory by ensuring the design was close to the dark themes of the comics.

I’d say they’ve managed to stay close to the dark themes of the comics wouldn’t you?

The storyline looks set to be something to remember as well, after Batman takes the joker to Arkham in order to keep him locked up out of the way of Gotham’s citizens. However keeping within the Jokers truly maniacal, but amazingly well organized, personality he reveals the whole thing as a trap. Soon after the Joker is brought to the Asylum he breaks free and starts his sadistic game of cat and mouse with Batman holding the city at ransom. This is where the fun begins, the asylum is notorious for it’s architecture and massive scale meaning you’ll have a lot of interesting ground to cover, imagine a less colorful Rapture. As well as all that the joker has managed to sneak in a collection of henchmen and weaponry for the escapee’s.

To regain order in this chaos Batman has to face off against some of the ugliest henchmen you’ll ever see , seriously it’s no wonder you knock these guys around. You’ll also have to develop some of the finer skills of Batman, you didn’t think this was really just another punch em up game did you? As you make your way through the game you have to keep hidden and in the shadows, striking out at opponents without them realizing what’s hit them. You need to remind them why they should be afraid.

Arkham is famous for holding a multitude of Batman’s rivals some of whom are scheduled to make an appearance in the game. Some of these unusual guests, on first glance, promise to deliver an interesting fight that will no doubt require players to stay on their toes.

The game also features tons of unlock able gadgets, and I think combos, meaning the more you play the more you get from the game. The gadgets in the game are some of the classics such as the grappling gun, bat vision and of course the baterangs. You’ll have no limit to how you’re capable of talking on the foes in this game. The game also features a detective, stealth predator and combat mode helping to fuel the excitement for this title. These features mean players can go from a large brawl with multiple enemies to silently stalking one, before making your move.

The detective mode is also an interesting feature to help you throughout the game, once in this mode players can survey there surroundings and pick up on the small details around. This isn’t just a feature for helping to notice the small cracks on the wall or interesting tattoos your victims have. It can be used to strategize as the detective mode shows the opponents moods, possible attacks around the room and points of interest such as a light switch or gas canister.

The combat features of the game are capable of so much it’s sure to keep you entertained just finding new ways to tackle and finish off bad guys. From button mashing the basic attack button to making strings of combos and attacking multiple targets it’s an exciting thought to have so many bad guys to practice on. As well as this there are unlock able side missions you can play in the game called challenge rooms. These rooms focus on specific points such as stealth or combat and give you goals to achieve in each room, helping you either practice or show off. Your scores can be submitted to the world leader boards and you can see just how you measure up against other batmen in the world.

The game is set for release in summer but has already caused controversy for some gamers by announcing that PS3 players will be able to play as the joker in some side missions. There hasn’t been any word on whether or not Xbox players will also have this feature but for now it doesn’t look like it. As the release date draws near the website has gone live and a large selection of screenshots have become exposed all over the internet. It was tempting to try and post them all on here but I managed to restrain myself to those few, if you want to see more check out the site. It features extra a developers blog ad the latest news so if you’re as excited about this game as I am keep your eyes peeled on the site. Or just wait for me to blog, either way the game looks golden and the trailer is a perfect example of what to look forward to.